#chopper - Hello Poetry

They call it a chopper For the way the blades slice the air, For the way the sound slices your eardrum And minces your gut as it approaches. Chopped could describe the exterior, Banged-up in a way where you almost feel safer drowning than being lifted into its cage. Chopped are the words Spoken by the coastguard As they try to secure you; you can’t Distinguish their voices from the wind, From the drum in your ears. They call it a chopper, And expect you to be happy To see it.

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Feb 19

Feb 19, 2026 at 4:07 PM UTC

ivorysmiles

Chopper

They call it a chopper For the way the blades slice the air, For the way the sound slices your eardrum And minces your gut as it approaches. Chopped could describe the exterior, Banged-up in a way where you almost feel safer drowning than being lifted into its cage. Chopped are the words Spoken by the coastguard As they try to secure you; you can’t Distinguish their voices from the wind, From the drum in your ears. They call it a chopper, And expect you to be happy To see it.

16

The metal floor is slicky Desert heat amplifies The odor of ***** and blood Mostly empty IV bags hang on their stands Packaging from numerous medical supplies Litter the ground Quickly and carefully I clean and spray and sweep and scrub I sort and pack and refit and reorganize Preparing the chopper for the next call Lives were saved But I don’t know what will become of them Some will leave the Army Some will come back here Some will do the job the enemy couldn’t do And take their own lives I can’t think about that This is hard enough

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Feb 10, 2020

Feb 10, 2020 at 11:02 AM UTC

ellis-reyes

Turnaround

The metal floor is slicky Desert heat amplifies The odor of ***** and blood Mostly empty IV bags hang on their stands Packaging from numerous medical supplies Litter the ground Quickly and carefully I clean and spray and sweep and scrub I sort and pack and refit and reorganize Preparing the chopper for the next call Lives were saved But I don’t know what will become of them Some will leave the Army Some will come back here Some will do the job the enemy couldn’t do And take their own lives I can’t think about that This is hard enough

18

HEARTBREAK Young French woman is very pregnant and about to give birth to a baby. She lives in a remote area so the air ambulance helicopter is called, a state of the art Eurocopter with a highly trained crew. Modern helicopter and trained crew, they know what they’re doing. Pick up the girl to take her to hospital, arrive in style in a cool chopper. Time moves on exceedingly fast, medic aboard the Eurocopter tends the girl. She’s soon plus one when she gives birth to a baby. That bit is over. Young mum did her bit, now the pilot must fly them safely to hospital so all can be well. It’s not to be, helicopter flies through a snow blizzard. Something isn’t right, should they be allowed to fly in atrocious weather? Is it an all weather helicopter with a crew trained to fly in the snow? Was it at night? They baby graced God’s earth for two minutes, bringing the mother happiness. Then the helicopter flew into an Alpine mountainside killing all aboard. What an unreal heartbreaking story. I read about this in the Attrition Section in Air Forces Monthly magazine. I’m still incredulous and sad that this ever happened. A smashed helicopter with dead flight crew and dead family who never had the chance to see any of life’s potential in any way. I wonder what God thinks about this? Never mind the grieving father. Think of what could have been?

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Dec 19, 2019

Dec 19, 2019 at 10:30 PM UTC

nickarmbrister

HEARTBREAK

HEARTBREAK Young French woman is very pregnant and about to give birth to a baby. She lives in a remote area so the air ambulance helicopter is called, a state of the art Eurocopter with a highly trained crew. Modern helicopter and trained crew, they know what they’re doing. Pick up the girl to take her to hospital, arrive in style in a cool chopper. Time moves on exceedingly fast, medic aboard the Eurocopter tends the girl. She’s soon plus one when she gives birth to a baby. That bit is over. Young mum did her bit, now the pilot must fly them safely to hospital so all can be well. It’s not to be, helicopter flies through a snow blizzard. Something isn’t right, should they be allowed to fly in atrocious weather? Is it an all weather helicopter with a crew trained to fly in the snow? Was it at night? They baby graced God’s earth for two minutes, bringing the mother happiness. Then the helicopter flew into an Alpine mountainside killing all aboard. What an unreal heartbreaking story. I read about this in the Attrition Section in Air Forces Monthly magazine. I’m still incredulous and sad that this ever happened. A smashed helicopter with dead flight crew and dead family who never had the chance to see any of life’s potential in any way. I wonder what God thinks about this? Never mind the grieving father. Think of what could have been?

2